Governorship candidate of Accord Party in Akwa Ibom State in the 2023 general election, Engr Emem Coffie, has blamed the rising cost of cement and reinforcement bars which are key component materials in the construction industry that employs over 70 percent of the youths, on the calculated attempt by a cabal to strangulate the economy in order to disparage the government of the day.
In a statement he made available to journalists in Abuja, Engr Emem Coffie said government cannot be blamed each time desperados who are players in those markets decide to insult the collective intelligence of Nigerians.
He said that it is pertinent to note that if one says the government is insensitive, the real saboteurs are members of the cartel and cabal who are not only insensitive but barbaric and devilish.
He noted that the people committing the ‘dastardly acts’ have relations and family members suffering the same fate as a result of their greed, adding that the government should put a benchmark and sanction key players who won’t play by the rules and also allow importation of food and cement, at least temporarily, into the country.
He said government needs to make very stringent rules on dollar transactions such that it encourages increase inflow of dollar but discourages profiteering, saying that this dangerous trend which has become the main drive of local banks and the cartel should be curtailed.
He advised that more investors should be allowed to invest in cement production in which most raw materials are locally sourced. “We cannot ignore steel development and production if our industrialisation drive must succeed. Government must be proactive in taking decision,” he added.
He noted that the Nigerian media has a huge burden and responsibility to both the government and the citizenry.
